Rare News Desk
Amid a backdrop of public comments from the Palestinian and Israeli leadership over hopes for renewed peace talks, Israeli President Shimon Peres was honored in Jerusalem Tuesday by a glittering cadre of celebrities and world leaders in a huge early 90th birthday party. It was the kickoff event for his 5th Presidential Conference on Peace and Conflict, which continues through Thursday.
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On Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that an adviser to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement may not come to the talks without two long-standing demands that Israel has rejected: cessation of construction of settlements in contested areas and accepting the 1967 border as a starting point.
Israel’s top military commander in the West Bank, Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, on Tuesday urged that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are needed or unrest could result and that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s four visits since taking office in February have been calming, the AP reported.
On Monday, while accepting an honorary degree from Hebrew University, singer-actor Barbra Streisand spoke out vehemently against the treatment of women by the Orthodox Jewish movement.
According to The Associated Press, Streisand said, “it’s distressing to read about women in Israel being forced to sit in the back of the bus or when we hear about ‘Women of the Wall’ having metal chairs thrown at them when they attempt to peacefully and legally pray.”
Missing from the Presidential Conference sessions was renowned Cambridge University physics professor Stephen Hawking, who announced in May that he would not attend for health reasons due to his ALS but then revealed he was boycotting the event to support Palestinian academics and their boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS).
“We long for peace with our neighbors,” Peres said to the audience of 3,000 celebrating with him on Tuesday. “The yesterday between us and the Palestinians is full of sadness. I believe that the Israel of tomorrow and the Palestine of tomorrow can offer our children a ray of hope.”
At Peres request, Streisand sang the Jewish prayer “Avinu Malkeinu,” which means “our Father, our King” and is chanted on the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the AP said. Streisand said the prayer was meant to “cause all hate and oppression to vanish from the earth.”
Attending the celebration for Peres were President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, movie stars Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone. World leaders and public figures sending their congratulations to Peres included Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Barack Obama, U2 frontman Bono, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to reports.
Related articles
- Happy 90th, Shimon Peres! (jta.org)
- Peres throws his weight behind US plan to arm Syria rebels (jpost.com)
- AP Interview: Peres, at 90, still going strong (cnsnews.com)
- Leaders call for peace push at Israel’s Presidential Conference (jta.org)
- Streisand serenades Peres as stars mark his 90th birthday (thetimes.co.uk)
- Bill Clinton: No alternative to two-state solution (timesofisrael.com)
- Barbra Streisand criticizes treatment of women by ultra-Orthodox Jews during Israel visit (thestar.com)
- Streisand slams treatment of women in Israel (cbsnews.com)
- Not smart: Stephen Hawking hawks Palestinian propagada (rare.go-vip.net)
